Here’s an easy way to take gift wrappingto the next level when topped with a glamorous ribbon. Get creative - mix and match ribbons to coordinate with your event, or choose your recipients favorite color. Have fun by embellishing your bow with rhinestones, pom poms or even feathers!

Shown in the picture is a Sephardic bridal “Swanee“, in which the groom’s parents send over gifts for the Jewish bride. Gifts usually include candlesticks for Shabbat, a tray, perfumes, and a purse with money enclosed for the bride to attend the mikveh. This swanee is “closed”, meaning that the gifts are wrapped and will be opened during a private time for the bride and her close friends and relatives.

For this project, you’ll need a glue gun, scissors, and ribbon in your desired width and color. Keep in mind that a larger gift will look better with a wider ribbon, while a smaller one will look fine with a thinner one. It is very important that you use wire edged ribbon to make the bow. It will look stiffer and prettier. I buy my ribbon from Cosco- they sell beautiful wide wired edge ribbons in varying colors, and are very inexpensive. They especially have a wide selection around holiday time so stock up for future projects!

Not in the mood to go buy ribbon? Watch the video above and learn how to make a bow out of recycled wrapping paper or any paper that you have laying around the house. Its a great eco-friendly wrapping idea!

Step one: lie your box or gift on a flat surface. Glue a piece of ribbon horizontally and then cross another piece of ribbon over vertically. Take care to place the vertical ribbon under the horizontal one to hide the seams for a more perfect finish. Use your hot glue gun to stick the pieces together.

2. Step two: Cut a long piece of ribbon for the bow. The longer the piece, the larger the bow will be.

3. Step three: Take one end of the ribbon and fold about an inch in, gluing to creating a small circle. You can place your index finger in the circle to make a rounder piece.

4. Step four: Fold another circle in, this one a bit larger than the first. Glue this one under to the left of the first small circle. Follow this step and make another circle on the right.

5. Step five: Continue, each set becoming larger than the last. Keep on going until you have the desired bow size. When your done, fold the edge of the remaining ribbon and cut on an angle across the closed side. This will create two triangle edges for a beautiful, professional finish.

I don’t know about you, but lately at every event I go to the decor seems to be a bit repetitive. So when my clients came to me this past summer for their son’s bris, I was thrilled that they wanted their event to be anything but ordinary. The thought process was simple: Bris = Kids and Kids = Candy. Yes, the theme was candy. This event is probably one of my favorites that I’ve done just because we got to use so many different colors and we really had fun with it. There were no limits as to how far we could go with the candy theme.

To start, our guests were greeted by 7 foot tall gigantic lollypops made out of flowers. If you ask me, there’s nothing better than an amazing entrance. It makes everyone excited to be there, and you know that what’s to come will be even better!

After a stroll down lollypop lane, guests walked into a beautiful tent will crystal chandeliers. Each table was adorned with a lollypop made of flowers, gorgeous apothecary jars filled with gourmet licorice, and edible lollypops for people to take. The chartreuse linens were crocheted and had just the right amount of sparkle in them. Over the bar as the main centerpiece was the letter H built into a square for the baby’s name. This was also made out of fresh flowers!

If this wasn’t enough to amaze everyone, there was a cigar roller (for the adults), a popcorn machine, a candy bar, and a candy blower! Yes, a candy blower. Have you ever seen people blow glass into different shapes? That’s exactly what it was- only it was candy being blown into different shapes.

To end things on a sweet note, the actual ceremony of the bris was outdoors, so halachically speaking, we needed to build a structure with four corners, similar to a chuppah. So the four corners were flowers of all different colors swirled into a candy cane! and the top was actually made of candy necklaces!

My point is, for your next event don’t be afraid to take risks and don’t be afraid of color! It will surely make for a party to remember.

If you have an event coming up and are interested in my services as an event designer and planner, my information is at the bottom

Big thanks to my florist, Konstantinos, for his amazing work. He should call it art not work! You can find his information at www.LouisKonstantinos.com

And I wouldn’t be able to share my work with all of you readers if it weren’t for these photos. So thank you David Roth for always giving us beautiful memories!

In all seriousness David did my wedding photos and I love every picture so much that I might have to extend my album by 100 pages. You can also find his information at www.davidrothphotography.com .